Living dangerously: a defense of Mortal Peril

As one of the most controversial writers of our time, just the name Richard Epstein draws immediate attention from all sectors of academia. But if the hallmark of great ideas is the criticism they engender, Professor Epstein's words and thoughts are powerful indeed. In Mortal Peril, Professor Epstein outlined a fundamental shift in thinking that he claimed needed to occur before any discussion of health care could take place. The final consensus of the validity of Professor Epstein's views may still be a matter for history to judge, but in many ways, he has already won; with the strength of his logic and convictions, he has forced other scholars to address his concerns, and in doing so, he has refocused the debate on health care. At the symposium, Professor Epstein proved his indisputable eloquence and debating skill in answering and refuting the various points made by his many critics. Now, in writing, he thoughtfully considers and analyzes the views submitted by his colleagues, and solidifies the ideas that first found their expression in Mortal Peril.     

Declines in Crime and Teen Childbearing: Identifying Potential Explanations for Contemporaneous Trends

Objectives

The previous 25 years have witnessed remarkable upheavals in the social landscape of the United States. Two of the most notable trends have been dramatic declines in levels of crime as well as teen childbearing. Much remains unknown about the underlying conditions that might be driving these changes. More importantly, we do not know if the same distal factors that are responsible for the drop in crime rates are similarly implicated in falling rates of teen births. We examine four overarching potential explanations: fluctuations in economic opportunity, shifting population demographics, differences in state-level public policies, and changes in expectations regarding health and mortality.

Methods

We combine state and year-specific data from existing secondary sources to model trajectories of violent crime and teen fertility over a 20-year period from 1990 to 2010 using simultaneous fixed-effects regression models.

Results

We find that 4 of the 20 predictors examined—growth in the service sector of the labor market, increasing racial diversity especially among Hispanics, escalating levels of migration, and the expansion of family planning services to low-income women—offer the most convincing explanations for why rates of violent crime and teen births have been steadily decreasing over time. Moreover, we are able to account for almost a quarter of the joint declines in violent crime and teen births.

Conclusions

Our conclusions underscore the far reaching effects that aggregate level demographic conditions and policies are likely to have on important social trends that might, at first glance, seem unrelated. Furthermore, the effects of policy efforts designed to target outcomes in one area are likely to spill over into other domains.

     

The Neglected Strata: States in the City-Federal Politics of Malaysia

Another version of this paper was prepared for Conference on"The Politics of Intergovernmental Relations in Federal Systems:Urban Perspectives," Center for the Study of Federalism, TempleUniversity, Philadelphia, August 26–28, 1973. In revisingthis paper, I am indebted to Dorothy and James Guyot for theirperceptive and helpful suggestions.     

Development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of the domestic violence--related financial issues scale (DV-FI)

Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs at disproportionate rates within impoverished groups of women and can include economic abuse as a form of psychological maltreatment. The current study developed a comprehensive assessment of the unique financial issues facing female victims of IPV using a sheltered sample (N = 113). An exploratory factor analysis (principal-axis factoring with varimax rotation) was conducted on 24 items of the newly developed Domestic Violence-Related Financial Issues Scale. Preliminary results supported five extracted factors, which accounted for approximately 53% of the total common variance in the women's responses. Psychometric properties of the instrument are presented.     

Child maltreatment profiles and adjustment problems in high-risk adolescents

The purpose of this article is to identify profiles of maltreatment experiences in a sample of high-risk adolescents and to investigate the relationship between the derived profiles and psychological adjustment. Participants are 1,131 youth between the ages of 12 and 18 years involved with publicly funded mental health and social services. Information on physical, sexual, and emotional maltreatment and psychological symptoms are obtained in interviews with adolescents and their primary caregivers. Using latent profile analysis, three maltreatment profiles are identified: "sexual+physical+emotional maltreatment," "physical+emotional maltreatment," and "low maltreatment." Adolescents in the two maltreatment profiles generally have significantly higher scores on symptom scales compared with those in the "low maltreatment" profile, but scores in the two maltreatment profiles do not differ. Findings highlight the need for agencies to identify and provide appropriate intervention for youth who experience multiple types of maltreatment.     

Fatal Injuries of Law Enforcement/Correctional Officers Attacked with Sharp‐Edged Weapons,

According to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, there were 117 law enforcement fatalities in the United States in 2015. Assaults with sharp‐edged weapons have resulted in a total of over 400 fatalities in the United States. The goal of the current research was to examine sharp‐edged weapon assaults against law enforcement and correctional agents that resulted in a fatal outcome. A total of twelve autopsy reports were reviewed from across the United States. Four cases involved law enforcement officers, seven involved correctional officers, and one was an off‐duty border officer. The male‐to‐female ratio was 11:1. A total of 70.2% of the wounds analyzed were stab wounds (n = 85), and 29.8% of the wounds were slash wounds (n = 36). Based on this review, the neck, shoulder, and chest regions were the most vulnerable to single fatal stab/slash wounds. Multiple stab/slash wounds often resulted in exsanguination. The use of body armor was only noted in one case.     

Lobbying and Concessions: Comparing Nash to Stackelberg Games

We analyze how the standardresults in lobbying theory change when one side has asecond instrument at its disposal. We look at theeffect concessions by one side have on the outcome ina Nash and a Stackelberg game.